goodman



June 16, 1953 M. GOODMAN A 2,642,189

" TIMECARD RACK Filed July 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

MERL L. GOODMAN BY WHITEHEAD 8x VOGL ATTORNEYS June 16, 1953 Filed July 25, 1952 M. L. GOODMAN TIMECARD RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 7

42 I |4J[ 44 I9 INVENTR. MERL L. GOODMAN BY WHITEHEAD a VOGL ATTORNEYS Patentecl June 16 1953 f Merl Lemmas, Adm; contacts; 7 1 imputation mites,1952;,se ia1r deoa s'z 10 Claims,

Thisinvention'relates in general to card racks and more particularly to racks for holding'workmen's time cards and the like. The main' object of this invention is "to provide a time card rack, including compartments for holdingindividual cards, combined with means for transferring-the cards from such compartments to a trough at the base of the rack.

Other objects of this invention are toprovide an improved'time card rack which: (a) includes a trough at the base of the rack, into which time cards may fall 'from their individual compartments above, to thereby simplify the collection of the cards; (2)) provides means in which "time cards are arranged in a predetermined order in a vertical row of compartments and means to transfer said cards to a trough at the base of the rack, maintainingsaid order of said cards; includes manually operable card-release. means which are adapted to simultaneously drop all cards from a rack containing many rows of compartments to troughs at the base or the rack;

(11) is a sturdy, simply-"constructed unit, easyto operate and maintain and usable over long periods of time. With the foregoing and other objects in view, all of which more fully hereinafter appear, my invention comprises certain new and novel'constructions, combinations andarrangements of parts and elements as hereinafter described, and as defined in the appended claims and illustrated in preferred embodiment, in the accompanying drawing, in which: i Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a time card rack having two vertical rows ofcompartments and a trough at the base of each row, embodying the present invention. H Figure 2 is a vertical section through the rack; as viewed from the indicatedline 2-42, at Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a transverse section through the rack as viewed from the indicated line '33 at Fig. 1. Figure 4'lis a fragmentary sectional detail ofa portion of the showing at Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale and with broken lines indicating alternate positions of the elements there'shown; Figure .5 isa fragmentary sectional detail .of a portion of the apparatus as viewed from thfe'irrdicated line 55 at Fig. '2, but on an enlarged scale and with broken lines indicating alternate positions of the elements therein shown.

Figure '6 is'a vertical section similar to Fig, 2 but showing an alternate construction"of'thefin vention, Q v j "Figure 7 is a fragmentary portion; insection, on an enlarged scale, of the showing at Fig. 6.

into the chute "Figure 8 is'af'fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 7,-b,ut showing another alternate embodiment-pf thein'vention. Figure 9 is a-fragmentaryrear view of the elements-shown at Fig j8; as viewed trom the-indicated arrow sat Fig-8;

' Theusual rackfor holding cards comprises an array of slot-like compartments upon a'backboard, which are generally disposedin groups in vertical rows, and each compartnient isadapted to holdthe card of an individual workman. The basic purpose of such a rack is to permit a workman to' easily find his c'ardamong a large group'of other similar cards. At certainintervals it is necessary'to gather all o'f'the time cards in the rack for recording the inf'ormationon each of them and. for payroll and other purposes. I Gathering these cards one'by one from a rack constructed in a conventional manner, in some plants as many as several thousand, is'mostwas'teful and inefficient. This condition exists'at many large plants and factories, and the problem of providing automatic collection of the time cards'in such large racks has long been recognized. The present invention was conceived and developed to meet such a problem and to provide an improved time card rack which includes automatic collection features.

The invention comprises in essence a rack having a plurality of inclined'pockets or compartments in a vertical row as in convention-altime card-racks, but combined with a chute at the back of the compartments and a trough at the bottom-oi the row. Aretractable pin extends across the b'ottom of each "compartment to hold the cards inpo'sitiomand means are provided for simultaneously retracting all ofthe pins to permit the cards to drop from the compartments M and thence into the trough at the base of the row. j v

'In' the illustrated embodiments of my 'inven tion-"the"tim'e card mean is shown as a unit having two vertical rows ofi'compartments i I, althoughitis understood that the rack it may includeoneior anynumber' of rows'of compartments," 'Theframe of the rack formed by suitable structural members to provide a box-like unit of 'suflioientdepth -to include vertical channel whereinftransverse plates l3 are positicn dto 'deiinethepockets'or compartments 'H, the plates being inclined outwardly from the vertical andthe inner, lower edges of the .plates being spaced forwardly from the rear wall 14 of the lsg i id fin "ajch tei i n s 12 extendto' 'th'e bottom or the'lrame and a bottom workmens time plate I8 and face plate I1 define a trough I8, the face plate I1 being ofsumcient height to hold time cards in substantially upright position therein. It follows that a time card placed in a compartment, if not restrained, will drop from the compartment into the chute and to the trough I8.

Each time card is normally held in its individual compartment, between two plates I3, by a pin I9 which extends from the rear wall I4 across the chute and below the lower edge of the lower of said two plates. The pins have a common retracting means whereby all are retracted, and the cards are simultaneously released to drop into chute I5 and thence into trough I8 for collection. The retracting means include orifices 20 in the rear wall I4 of the rack through which'pins I9 slide, and all of the pins are connected to a vertical bar 2| behind the rear wall. Movement of the bar 2| toward or away from the rear wall will simultaneously project the pins across the chute and across the bottoms of the pockets orretract the pins and clear the pockets and chute. It follows that the time card rack I8 must be mounted or supported in such a manner as to provide for movement of the bar 2|, and mechanisms which operate it, as for example, by brackets 22 supporting the rack spaced from wall 23.

A spring 24 is compressively seated against lugs 25 at each end of the bar 2| between the bar and the rear face of wall I4 to resiliently move the bar away from the wall I4 and retract the pins I9 from across the chute. The bar 2| is held adjacent to the wall I4 by a pair of latches 2B which are mounted upon a common shaft 21 and adapted to swing against the bar 2 I, a latch being located at each end of the bar to provide a uniform movement of the bar whenever the latches are released, thus insuring simultaneous retraction of all pins I9. The shaft 21 is pivotally mounted upon lugs 28 which outstand from the rear wall I4 and this shaft extends alongside the bar 2|, in spaced parallelism therewith, and terminates below the lower edge of the rack III as a handle 29 for manual operation thereof. The operation comprises rotation of the shaft to swing the latches 26 out of line with the bar 2| to permit springs 24 to move it away from the wall. A spring 30 is wrapped around the shaft 21 and is attached to a latch 26 and to an adjacent lug 28 to resiliently move the latches toward the latching position whenever the bar 2| is pushed toward the wall.

The retracted position of the pins I9 and bar 2| is shown by broken lines at Figs. 4 and 5. To move bar 2| against the wall I4, a pair of inclined arms 3| is mounted upon a shaft 32 which is carried upon lugs 33. The shaft 32 extends alongside the bar 2I in spaced parallelism therewith to position an arm 3| at each end of the bar 2| to insure uniform movement of the bar toward the wall I4 to prevent binding of operative parts, and it is spaced at a distance from the bar 2| suflicient to permit the angle of arms 3| to be comparatively fiat to minimize lateral pressure of the arms 3 I against the bar 2| as the arms rotate and bear against the bar. The shaft 32 may extend to the bottom or to the top of the rack and terminate as a handle for manual operation thereof or may be connected by levers hereinafter described where the rack includes a plurality of vertical rows each having an individual bar 2|.

Where there is a plurality of vertical rows of pockets in a single time card rack, as illustrated by the pair at Fig. 1, the shafts 21 and shafts 32 of the rows are linked together to operate simultaneously if desired. A pivot arm 33 outstands from each shaft 21 and is connected to the other arm 33 by a link rod 34. Rotation of one shaft 21 by turning handle 29 rotates the other shaft 21 of the neighboring unit. The shafts 32 include pivot arms 35 connected together by a link rod 38 for simultaneous rotation of the shafts. In the showing at Figs.'1, 2 and 3 the shaft 32 on the unit opposite the one carrying handle 29 extends to the bottom of the rack to terminate as a handle 31. With such an arrangement the handles 29 and 31 are spaced apart at the bottom of the board and operation of the rack is first to rotate handle 29 to release the bar 2| from latches 28 and retract the pins I9 to thereby permit' the cards to drop from the pockets to the trough; subsequently, the handle 31 may be rotated to move the arms 3| against the bar 2| to project the pins across the chute, and upon such rotation the latches 26 move to lock the bar in position.

The successive relative overlapping of the pockets insures the maintenance of the predeter mined order of the cards in the trough-thc card from the bottom pocket will be in front and the card from the top pocket will be at the back and the other cards in order therebetween.

The alternate construction illustrated at Figs.

6 and 7 employs electrical means to operate the.

bar 2 I to retract the pins I9. In this construction the bar 2 I is modified by reversing the position of lugs, here indicated as 25', and the spring 24. A basket type frame 38 encases each end of the bar 2| and the spring 24 is compressively mounted between each lug 25 of the bar 2 I and a member of the frame 28 which overhangs the bar, whereby the springs 24 push the bar against the wall I4 to resiliently hold the pins I9 in their projected position across the chute I5.

The body of a solenoid 39 is mounted upon each frame member 38 and the armature 48 of the solenoid is carried by bar 2|. Whenever the solenoids at each end of the bar are energized, the armature is drawn into the body of the solenoid to move the bar away from the wall I4 and retract the pins I9. These solenoids are connected together and to a push button control switch 4| by an electrical circuit, indicated by the leads 42 from the solenoids and switch. The circuit is powered from any suitable electric source, such as a common volt alternatin current. The switch is mounted upon the rack ID in any convenient location, as illustrated at Fig. 6.

The alternate construction'shown at Figs. 8 and 9 positions the solenoid 39 against the rear wall I4 of the rack ID in such a manner as to minimize the necessary spacing between the back of the wall I4 and the wall 23 whereon the rack is mounted. The bar 2| is resiliently held against the wall I4, with the pins I9 extended.

across the chute, by a pair of leaf springs 43 along each side and at each end of the bar 2 I, which bear against pins 44 outstanding from the sides of the bar. The fingers of a yoke 45 extend around each end of the bar and are formed as inclined planes 46, one side of which bears against rollers 41 outstanding each side of the bar 2 I. The inclination of the planes 45 is such that movement of the yoke away from the end of the bar 2| lifts the rollers and bar 2| away from the wall I4 to retract the pins I9. A solenoid 39' is mounted beyond the end of each bar 2 I and its armature 40 is connected to the yoke away from the bar whenever the solenoids are energized as in the manner hereinbefore described.

While I have illustrated and described many details of construction, alternatives and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art which are within the scope and spirit of my invention; hence it is my desire that my protection be not limited .to the details herein illustrated and described, but only by the proper scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A time card rack including, in combination, a substantially vertical row of time-card pockets inclined outwardly from the rack, a chute at the rear of said row and communicating with the bottoms of said pockets, a trough at the bottom of said chute, obstructions at bottom of pockets and means for withdrawing all of said obstructions, whereby to permit cards to drop from the pockets into the chute and thence into the trough.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said obstructions comprise pins positioned across the chute and the bottom of each pocket.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said obstructions comprise pins slidable through the rear wall of the chute and across the chute at the bottom of each pocket, said withdrawing means being associated with the pins behind said rear Wall.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein said means include a bar connected with said pins.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said obstructions comprise pins extending through the rear Wall of the chute and across the chute and the bottoms of the respective pockets, and the withdrawing means include a bar behind said rear Wall interconnecting said pins, balanced resilient means for moving said bar and thereby withdrawing said pins, and latching means adapted to hold the bar in pin-extended position.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said latching means comprises swingable arms at the respective ends of the bar, and a shaft interconnecting the arms and extending below the rack and terminating as a handle.

7. The apparatus defined'in claim 5 including means for pushing the bar from its pin-withdrawn position to the pin-extended and barlatched position.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said obstructions comprise pins slidable through the rear wall of and across the chute at the bottoms of the respective pockets, a bar behind the rear wall of the chute interconnecting said pins, balanced resilient means adapted to push the bar to the pin-extended position, balanced solenoid means including armatures connected to the bar and adapted to pull the bar to the pin-retracted position.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said obstructions comprise pins slidable through the rear Wall of and across the chute at the bottoms of the respective pockets, a bar behind the rear wall of the chute interconnecting said pins, balanced resilient means adapted to push the bar to the pin-extended position, wedge means adapted to move the bar to pin-withdrawn position and means adapted to operate the wedge.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein said wedge operating means include a solenoid having its armatur connected to the wedge.

MERL L. GOODMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,284,783 Ryan Nov. 12, 1918 2,105,594 Henrich Jan. 18, 1938 2,165,606 Bateman July 11, 1939 2,303,971 Willy et a1 Dec. 1, 1942 

